Darkness in Daylight
by Della C
Summary: A young man named Raven learns something about his favorite book characters...warning, this is an ongoing story, so if you're into stories that end, look somwhere else
1. This is actually 3 chapters...

Nobody really knows

Darkness in Daylight

By Madella Chorida

I do not own any characters mentioned in either _In The Forests Of The Night_ or _Demon In My View_. I do, however, stake out a claim on Raven and the Deamons. Just FYI, that's pronounced 'Day-AH-mon,' not 'demon'

Ch. 1

Bloody Feet.

A part Native American boy sat on the porch of one of the houses in Ramsa, New York. He had just moved in, and school was about to start soon. He would be a sophomore at Ramsa High. His father was a retired Naval officer, and his mother was dead. They had moved to Ramsa to be nearer to their relatives. 

His full name was Thomas Andrew Warner, but everyone called him Raven. He was often considered an odd one, but here, no one seemed to care. 

In his hands was a book called _Tiger, Tiger_ by Ash Night. He loved vampire stories, and Aubrey was the perfect villain; a guy you really could love to hate. And Risika...well...she was everything that Raven liked in a female vampire character, silky-smooth, beautiful, and deadly. 

But he wasn't reading it at the time. He was thinking about the last things said to him by the kids in his old school. No one liked him much. He'd never had a real friend. Sure, there had been kids who said 'Hi' to him in the hallways, and the kids who would share gossip with anyone, but Raven's true friends had always been the animals.

It had been this way for as long as Raven could remember. No animal ever ran and hid from him. It made hunting really easy, for his father. But Raven hated guns. If he killed an animal, he used old weapons, a spear or bow and arrows. He skinned it and tanned the skin. His room looked like a lions den, what with all the animal pelts inside. 

But he never, ever killed birds. No crows, hawks, starlings, herons, or especially ravens would die by his hands.

His father called him. They were going to a party at someone's house soon, but Raven didn't want to go. He wanted to explore the woods nearby. 

So he leaped up, and ran.

The forest was not incredibly dense, and he was able to move swiftly down the path in his bare feet. He hated wearing shoes. If he stepped on something, he ignored it. That wasn't very hard; he had an amazingly high tolerance for pain. He had once stepped on a four-inch nail when his father was stationed in Japan, and it went straight through his foot. He had hardly felt it, and had simply left it in until his dad, panicking, called the hospital and got him a tetanus shot. 

But there was nothing for him to worry about here. The path was so smooth. A few deer gazed at him as he raced by. They seemed to disapprove of his breaking the silence of the forest with his running. The ground felt good under his feet, he felt like he could fly...when...

...._ Crunch. _

Raven looked down at what had made the noise, then cursed. "Damn it!" He said aloud. "What idiot would leave a glass bottle in the middle of a forest!?" Still grumbling, he sat down and pulled the shards of glass from the bottom of his foot.

His aunt had told him that he was a very lucky boy. His gift for taking pain was a very useful one. Raven had always thought that, (it was really a crazy idea,) perhaps it was she that had given him the gift. For, ever since his mother's funeral, ever since his aunt had blessed him, he had been this way. 

He sat and frowned for a moment. What was his aunt's name again? He should be able to remember, but she was never around much. It had started with a 'T', he knew. 

Raven looked up at a pigeon that was sitting in a tree overhead. "Have you ever been thinking of a name but can't remember?" the pigeon simply cooed. "Guess not." 

Then it hit him. 

"Tertia!" He shouted aloud, frightening the pigeon from its perch. 

"Her name is Tertia Arun!" 

Ch. 2

The House of Monkeys

Raven's foot was still bleeding rather badly, but he ignored it and continued walking. After a while, he stopped and sat down against an oak tree. Very slowly, he drifted into sleep. 

And he dreamed. 

_Rebecca had to keep on running. The black hawk was still following her, but the falcon was gone. **That means Mother hasn't made it**_. _She thought. _

_But there was no time to think. She had to keep on running and running. For...if the vampire managed to catch up with her..._

_**But why doesn't it just stop me?**_ _She wondered. **It could just get into my mind and make me fall asleep. Maybe...maybe it's because of Tertia. Maybe it knows that the Arun line would avenge me...**_

**__**_Suddenly, the voice of the vampire echoed in her mind. **I do not care in the slightest whom you happen to be related to, mortal woman. I give chase merely because I enjoy flying. No other reason. **A pause. Rebecca thought that maybe the vampire was giving up, but no such luck. **Anyway, you're growing weaker. You can't keep this up for long. You'll drop soon. **_

**__**_Rebecca gave a sharp moan of despair. The vampire was right. She needed water, and she couldn't keep running. _

_But she had to. _

_**Come on, Becca! **She shouted at herself. **Keep going! One foot in front of the other! One, two! One, two! One...**_

**__**_...Fall. _

_The hawk gave a shriek of triumph, accompanied by the vampire's mental voice. **You see? **_

**__**_Rebecca gasped for breath as the vampire circled down and shifted back to the form of a man. His black eyes were cold and unforgiving. "Ah! I do enjoy a good chase! Mortal woman, you are quite a fast runner!" He gave a smirk. "But that's all you are."_

_Rebecca rolled her eyes. **You've really messed this one up now, Becca.** **Just keep talking. The longer you talk, the longer you live.**"Yes, I know. That's all I am. I run. I hide. I'm the rabbit fleeing from the wolf. The prey hiding from the predator."_

_"Yes, that's basically it." _

_"Do you often have conversations with you're meals?" Rebecca couldn't stop herself from asking. "Or did your parents never teach you not to play with your food?" _

_The vampire looked at her with a hint of admiration. "But brave! You know, if I wasn't so hungry, I might change you, woman." _

_"In case you're interested, my name's Rebecca." She snapped. "And I'm dead either way, aren't I? So just get it over with. Kill me."_

_"Well, Rebecca. Since you won't be alive to tell anyone, my name is Silver." Silver smiled, flashing fangs. "I think I like you, Rebecca. I will allow you to live long enough to do the one thing you truly wish to do."_

_"I wish you would shut up and drain me dry already. I'm sick of your taunting." Rebecca's words were far braver than she felt, and she knew the vampire could sense it. Even as she snapped out her own replies to the vampire's taunts, she could not help thinking of her son... Thomas. _

_"No. You want to speak to your son for one last time. How sweet. You humans really do build up a lot of useless sentiment among yourselves." Silver yawned like a cat. "I'll hunt somewhere else for tonight, but I'll be back for you tomorrow. Goodbye, mortal Rebecca."_

_That evening, Rebecca said her last words to her son. "Remember, Raven. No matter who you are now or what you become later on, God and I will always love you." _

_ _

The pigeon squawking in his ear woke Raven with a start so sudden he forgot his dream. He flapped his hands at the irritating bird and shouted, driving it away. Unfortunately, he wasn't careful about where he was waving, and his hand snagged on a rosebush. 

Raven swore again. "Damn it! No matter what I do, I always managed to cut myself! I don't care if it doesn't hurt." He shook his injured hand. "I'm gonna get blood poisoning for sure. Else I'll die of blood loss. Ugh." 

Then, he noticed the odd color of the roses. 

Black. 

Raven leaped up. "Holy shit!" He cried. "What if...what if it's real!" He began running in the direction of home, the fear of Ash Night's vampire becoming real fueling his muscles.

Beyond the rose bush, Silver watched in the form of a black hawk. The boy was powerful, more powerful than he knew. Rebecca had contacted the Arun witch and told her to watch over Raven. But all Tertia could do was give him a tolerance for pain of nearly vampiric levels. Silver found the boy interesting. He would keep a very close watch on him, for sure. 

When Raven reached his house, his father was prepared. "Thomas Andrew!" He shouted. "Get inside_. Now!_" For a brief moment, Raven thought about running away again, but the fact that his father was behind him sort of nixed that idea. 

"What did you think you were doing? And you knew we had to go to the Grey's house tonight! Go to your room, young man, and don't let me see your face until tomorrow morning! And tomorrow we are going to the Grey's house. _We. _Do you understand me?"

Raven stayed silent throughout his father's ranting. But then he said: "You're going back? Again?" 

"No! I canceled it because of you! The whole point of this was so you could meet this Tyler Grey!" His father jabbed a furious finger in the direction of the stairs. "Now get to your room now!" 

Raven's room was rather empty. He had only been in Ramsa for about a week, and quite a lot of his things were still in boxes. So he lay back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Quite softly, he began to sing. "_Black blood. Enter your veins. Enter your mind. Enter your heart and soul. Black blood._" It was a song that his mother had once sung when a sister of hers mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead. She had thought he wasn't listening, but he was. 

Suddenly, the connections were made. Black blood. Black roses. The symbols of the vampires. Could it be...

"No!" Raven said out loud. "It's a book! Don't be an idiot, Raven!" A pigeon cooed outside his window. Raven stood up and looked towards it."I didn't ask you. And anyway, what are you doing here? Oh, well. At least you're not the same damn pigeon as in the forest." 

The pigeon gave a squawk and flew away. But before it could get very far, a black hawk dropped down on it. Raven gave a sigh. "Well, that's one less annoying bird."

He turned around, and almost screamed. A man wearing black was behind him. His eyes were cold as ice. But he was gone almost instantly. _Oh, God. That HAD to have been a hallucination! _Raven sank back down on his bed, and clutched at his chest. "Holy Night." He said aloud. "The stars are brightly shining and I'm gonna give myself a heart attack if I keep this up."

"RAVEN!" His father shouted from downstairs, making him jump about three feet into the air.

"What is it?" Raven called back. "An' you don't have to yell!" 

"I've got to go to the store for a while. I know I can't expect you to stay in you're room, but I've told the neighbors to page me if they see you take one step outside. Is that understood?"

"Sir! Yes, _sir_!" 

The door slammed, and Raven ran downstairs into the living room. He made sure his father's car was out of the driveway before attacking the boxes where the books were kept. He ripped one open with his pocket knife, and dug around, looking for nothing in particular. He found a book called _Timeline_, and mumbled "Oh, what the hell." He began reading it, but swiftly became bored, and threw the book across the room. 

"I know!" He said, leaping to his feet. "Let's see what's in all these other boxes! Won't that be fun?" Raven often talked to himself like this. He figured that if it meant that he was insane...well...then he'd be insane. 

So he started rummaging through the boxes, and found his old hockey mask, a pole, an ugly green sheet, and some air freshener. Then the doorbell rang. 

Silver stood outside the boy's house, wondering what he would say. He couldn't be like Ather, and tell the boy to his face what he was going to do to him. But he wanted to see what the boy was like; get the measure of him. _And make sure he won't do what his aunt did. _Silver thought, a bit pessimistically.

When the door opened, a figure wearing a green sheet like a cape, and a hockey mask holding a pole and a can of air-freshener stood before him. 

"You have entered the House of Monkeys." Raven said, his voice muffled slightly by the mask. "Leave vile intruder from planet Z." Raven sprayed the air-freshener all over Silver. "There. Now you smell like lemons." The fifteen-year-old slammed the door in the vampire's face.

Silver shook his head, half amused. He should have expected Rebecca's son to be like this. He rang the doorbell again...

Raven almost laughed at the look on the strange man's face as he sprayed him with the aerosol. He didn't actually know what 'the House of Monkeys' was. he just made it up on the spur of the moment. Now, the man rang the doorbell again.

_Well, _thought Raven evilly. _He's askin' for it! _

Raven threw open the door, pulled off the sheet and tossed it over the man's head. "I told you to leave, being from Planet Z!" He said in his strange voice. "Now you must feel the wrath of the Keeper of the Monkey House!"

"That would be you're father, I assume." Murmured the man from under the sheet. As soon as he managed to get it off, Raven pulled out a cheap water gun that he had bought the day before.

"No, vile intruder from Planet X. I am the keeper of the House of Monkeys! And, if you do not leave, you will feel my powerless wrath!" 

The man gave a half smile. "Yes, I'm sure. I just wanted to know if your father was home, but I see that he's not. Now, I bid you good-day, young sir." 

Raven hadn't the slightest idea on how to respond to that. 

The man simply turned, and began to walk away, when Raven called after him. "Hey! What's your name! I have to take a message for my dad!" 

The man turned back around. His eyes glinted in the evening sun, but their color didn't show. They were black. He smiled, showing canines far to long and pointed to be human. "My name is Silver, young Raven. Remember that." 

Raven refused to show how surprised (and a little scared) he was. "Okay! And you'd best remember that _I _and _I_ aloneam the Keeper of the House of Monkeys!" 

Silver grinned, saluted, and disappeared. 

Raven just stood there, not quite knowing how to react. "Damn." He murmured, turning to walk back into the house. "Maybe I should go on medication...."

Silver reappeared in New Mayhem, just in front of _Las Noches. _He paused for a moment to look up at the sky before stepping inside.

The place was chaotic, as usual. But it appeared to be even more so than usual, considering that two vampires of from his line were chasing one another around the room. One was male, Silver recognized him as Aubrey. The boy had been a bit of a pig in the past, especially where Risika had been concerned. But he had changed a little. The female who was chasing him looked only half angry. She was almost laughing, but that could have been because a few of the human boys were standing on tables shouting "Aubrey! Aubrey! Aubrey!" in a rythmic chant.

One of his own fledglings, Jager, was sitting on the bar laughing his head off. "Run, Aubrey!" He shouted. "There's nothing more fearsome than a woman in a rage!" 

Young Ash answered this by slapping Jager as she ran by. He fell backwards off of the bar into the half human Kaei, who worked there. 

Silver shook his head as he sat down at the bar. "You're a genuine piece of work, Jager." 

The vampire's head popped up from behind he bar, his black hair was in a mess. "Aren't I though?" He helped Kaei to stand up again, then sat down next to his vampiric creator. "That little Deamon brat, Ty, came in here and spiked our drinks within seconds."

Silver smiled wryly. There were very few things that could make a vampire drunk; wine from the Deamon caverns was one of them. "I assume that he also provoked this?" he gestured to the back door of _Las Noches, _where Aubrey was carrying Ash over his shoulder, ignoring her pounding on his back. 

Jager rolled his eyes. "Of course. He bet a human that he could make Ash notice him. He kept on pestering her and she, of course, ignored him. Then he made some incredibly obscene remark about her relationship with Aubrey. She responded by slapping him across the face hard enough to knock him down. Aubrey then told her to get up, they were leaving. When she asked where, he said: 'To my room, of course. We wouldn't want to prove Ty wrong, now would we?'"

Silver laughed. "That sounds like something that little twerp would start. What did he give you anyway?"

Jager shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably something he dragged up from the caverns. Little bastard. He always shows up to pull some stupid stunt like this."

"Who're you callin' stupid?" A raucous voice called from a table in the far corner of the room. 

Kaei answered for Jager. "He's calling you stupid, Ty! And with right good reason, too!" 

The Deamon boy made a face at her as he walked over to the bar. "High, ho, Silver! I assume you met this Raven character today?" 

"I did." Silver didn't feel like going into details, but he knew that Ty would make him anyway, no matter what he thought. "He was exactly like I figured he would be." 

"Could you explain something to me?" Asked Ty, his face and voice (for once) serious."Now, when it comes down to it, I'm not really as stupid as I act. And I can mostly figure out a reason for a vampire's behavior. But why do you have to study this Raven kid? I mean, what's the point?" 

Silver pulled a bottle of some unidentified substance from behind the bar. "Do you really need to ask that, Ty? Don't Deamons study whoever they choose to be their fledgling in life?"

"We do, but vampires don't have the same need for strong fledglings as we do."

Jager interrupted "Why do you need strong fledglings? Wouldn't they eventually overpower you?"

Ty waved a hand dismissively. "Because we constantly have to fight for our race's survival. But Silver has yet to answer my question. Why?" 

Silver took a sip of the liquid he had taken, then sighed and set his glass on the bar. "Raven's family is a very odd one. His mother is distantly related to the Arun line. She had a sister once. I found her...interesting. Rather in the same way you found Fala interesting, Jager. I changed her, but she rejected it. She claimed she was going to feed; it was her first time ever killing anything I should add. But what she really did was take herself to that bitch Dominique Vida's house. When Vida answered the door, she said 'I am a vampire. Kill me.' So Vida did." Silver gave another sigh. "And that's why I never changed Rebecca. She would have done the exact same thing."

"So that's why." Muttered Jager. "So you wanted to make sure Raven won't do the same thing, right?"

"Exactly."

Ty leaned forwards a little. "So, will he?"

Silver shook his head and took another sip of the unidentified liquid. "I have no idea, Ty. Absolutely no idea." 

CH. 3

DEAMON'S LAIR

"I'M HOME!" Sarri winced. Her brother could make more noise than any other Deamon in the Nine Clans. "DIDJA MISS ME, SARRI?" 

"How could I miss an annoying little brat like you?" Sarri called back. "Ripfire's looking for you, by the way. He said something about some kind of alcohol you brought up from the caverns." 

Ty stopped dead in the hallway in front of his room. "Uh, just what did he say, exactly?"

Sarri waved her hand, enjoying the look of pure terror spreading across her fellow Deamon's face. "I can't remember, really. Oh, it was something along the lines of... Oh, yes. He said something like, ah, 'If that boy's stolen more wine from the caverns, I won't rest until I have him over a slow fire!' That's all!" Sarri smiled sweetly. Ty turned a bit green. 

"I'm dead." He moaned. "He'll keep his promise, I know it! I'm gonna die!" 

"As long as you don't bleed all over my rug, I'm fine with that." Ty gave a theatrical wail as he slipped into his room. "And close the door, will ya?!" 

Life was never really quiet in the home of a Deamon. Of course, their houses looked exactly like a normal persons home, and nothing any human would notice would give them away as Semi-immortals. 

Of course, this applied solely to humans.

Any other sentient creature of the night would be able to see at a glance that no ordinary being lived here. Not exactly _see, _more like sense. There were wardings up all around the property, and many minor curses set to prevent robbers. 

Suddenly, the front door flew open. A very tall, muscular, blond man stormed into the house. "TYYY!" he roared. "GET DOWN HERE! _NOW!!!_" 

Ripfire.

The door to the youngest Deamon's room opened and shut again with a loud smash, but no Ty appeared on the top of the stairs. Ripfire scowled. "Tyler Grey, get down here!" 

No answer.

"Do you want me to come up there?"

The only sound from upstairs was a few stifled laughs from Sarri. Although she was slightly in love with Ty, she seemed to enjoy watching him get into trouble. 

Very slowly, stomping down on every step, Ripfire climbed the stairs. "All right, young man! This is your last chance!" Three more steps. "Okay, Tyler! I'll count to three! One!" He took the first step. "Two!" He took the second. "Three!" He took the last step and stood at the top of the stairs, waiting for his fledgling to come out with his patented "I didn't do it" face that always seemed at the same time to scream: "Guilty!"

However, no teenager appeared. Ripfire prepared to yell again, when a growl from inside Ty's room startled him.

Very cautiously, Ripfire eased the door open, and got a surprise. 

A huge panther, so black it was almost blue, stood in the middle of Ty's room. 

Ripfire crossed his arms. The panther was just one of Ty's many forms. Ripfire was about to make a comment about allowing cats into the house when Ty sprung.

Normally, Ripfire would have stepped to the side just enough so that the panther would miss him and crash into the wall behind him. However, this was completely unexpected. Plus, Ty had apparently planned this out. The panther had disappeared for a brief moment, and when it reappeared it had already pushed Ripfire into the floor.

The big cat snarled, then leapt down the stairs and zoomed out the still open front door. 

Sarri opened her window just in time to see Ty disappear into the forest in the back yard.

As soon as he was out of sight of the house, the Deamon changed into the form of an eagle. In this shape, he flew to the only place he could hide.

The Caverns.

The Deamon Caverns were not your ordinary series of caves. Well, technically, they were. Every cave on earth was linked together, but only a Deamon could open the passages. It was very easy to get lost in the mazelike tunnels that seemed to shift their places regularly. 

Back in his human form, Ty paid for a ticket into Luray caverns. From there, he could easily get to the Tunnels. The Opening was almost directly next to the entrance to the cave. Plus, Luray was in Virginia. Ripfire wouldn't look there in a million years.

The Deamon stationed himself at the back of a group. First making sure no one was looking, he became a shadow being.

It was in this form that Deamon's were most feared, because they were silent and swift. They could kill someone without being noticed at all. Many Deamons could become completely invisible to all but another Deamon. Some could become invisible to all.

Ty was in the latter group.

Since no one was looking, he opened the passage. He slipped inside and quickly closed the Opening. 

Once inside the Tunnel, he began running again. If he stayed in one place for too long, Wyrna, the leader of the Deamons, would be able to sense his presence. And Ripfire would definitely go to her to help him find Ty. 

However, in Shade-form, Ty was stronger than any other Deamon. The boy knew this, but no one else did. Occasionally this bothered him. In his past, he had been called a devil-child constantly. The people in the town where he had lived were terrified of him, solely because of his silvery eyes. 

Then they had found out about his powers.

Ty's mother had been a Triste witch. Like most children of Tristes, Ty had an abnormal ability. He could levitate. He could fly. 

Of course, this was over three hundred years ago, and the townspeople were Puritans. People like Ty couldn't survive in that environment. They needed something more. 

Then Ripfire had come.

Even as Ty ran, he remembered his first meeting with the older Deamon. 

_Tyler Grey lived in a graveyard just outside of the village. No one bothered him there. Every so often, though, a priest would come and try his hand at some exorcism. Of course, this only worked on demons. Ty was human, or so he thought. He had the power to levitate, and, when he heard two pair of footsteps, he used his ability to float above a gravestone. _

_When the owners of the footsteps came into sight, Ty gave a short grunt and sat up straighter._

_They were twins, identical to the last detail. They both wore black pants, made of a material that Ty didn't recognize. Their shirts were bright red, so bright that it left an after-image Ty closed his eyes._

_One of the twins came towards Ty. "Hey, kid. Do you know what a Deamon is?"_

_Ty shook his head, no._

_"Do you want to know?"_

_Ty shook his head, no._

_"Well, guess what? You're going to find out."_

__

__Ty snapped out of his memories as he heard a noise ahead of him. He paused, and in pausing, saved his life.

Just in front of him was one of the many dangers of the Deamon caverns. It was one of the Early Ones.

Very few beings knew that nearly all creatures of the Night evolved from a similar being. This was an Early Vampire, or what some called a Shadow Leech. They would cling to you, and drain away your life force. 

_Dammit! _Thought Ty, angrily. _Shadow Leech's are so easy to kill, but I'm gonna hafta take the long way around. I'll have to fight it. _

Ty lunged towards the misty figure. Its senses were even more refined than those of a current Vampire, and it danced out of the way. Then it attacked. 

It was a fight well worth seeing, but it's a good thing no one did, because anyone standing near them would likely be incinerated by the blasts of energy emanating from both the Shadow Leech and the Deamon. After about five minutes, (although it seemed much longer to the combatants) the Shadow Leech retreated, screeching in rage over its defeat. 

If Ty weren't in Shade-form, he would have let out a sigh of relief. As it was now, he couldn't even _pretend _to breath like he did in flesh and blood forms. 

_That was a close one. _He thought as he began racing down the stone passageway _I just hope Wyrna didn't pick up my power reading during that fight. _Ty laughed. _Now THAT sounds like something from DBZ! Note to self: Restrict Toonami viewings. _

__Something kicked a rock at Ty from behind him. The Deamon spun around to face a short being with sand colored hair and a provocative grin. Ty recognized the being as a demon. 

Demons are not the same as Deamons. They are living, breathing creatures like humans, except they have been around a much, much, much longer time than the beginning of human _pre_history, much less history. Also, they are far more powerful. 

But this particular demon seemed to be rather weak, even more so than Ty, and a lot shorter. He grinned some more and then said: "The name is Dan, and I'm the man. I talk in rhyme all the time. The rhymes are bad, so says my dad. But if you don't like it, you can bite it." 

Ty blinked, and shook his head. He knew who Dan was. He was the self-declared weakest demon of the Terra Circle, which was by far the weakest of demon circles. Many people thought that Dan was incredibly annoying, and Ty concurred. However, Dan was a messenger demon, and he only bothered people when he had a message. "Whadda ya want, runt?" 

"I just got a wire from Ripfire. Better find a portal, or you'll find you're all too mortal." The demon disappeared, which was supposedly impossible to do inside the Caverns. 

Ty rolled his eyes. The last time he had met Dan, it was in the Black Banner Circus, which was a meeting place for almost every low, dirty, and rotten being on the planet. 

_So far, no surprises yet. _Ty thought. _Then I had best just turn around and run the way I came. If I meet up with a Shadow Leech again, I'll just blast it out of my way, and Wyrna can go to hell if she reads my power level._

Now that he didn't have to worry about Wyrna, Ty could move a lot faster. It took him mere seconds to get to Luray. From there he transported instantly to his room. Once there, he grabbed an old, battered Manga, sat on the bed, and started reading.

The door opened, and (big surprise) it was Ripfire. The older Deamon glared at his fledgling. "Ty, where have you been?"

"Whaddaya mean, Rip?" Ty looked up innocently and held up his comic. "I've been reading here the whole time." 

__


	2. Meeting of the Monkeys

Darkness in Daylight

Darkness in Daylight

Chapter 4

AN: I need to make a little disclaimer here. The character Jannie isn't mine, she belongs to my very good friend and fellow psychopathic night-child, Dark Xen. Our stories might not quite match up, (if she ever posts hers) so don't freak out about that, we both know.

MEETING OF THE MONKEYS

Raven's father was in a slightly better mood the next day, which meant that Raven didn't have to slink around the house like a dog that knew he was going to be beaten. The boy had decided that the best course of action concerning his father was to lock himself in his room and make up Dune fanfiction that would never get posted on the internet because they were, as Raven put it, too goddamn stupid.

Unfortunately, Raven's father was also set on forcing his son to go to this Tyler Grey's house. So, at around 14:00, (Raven's father also insisted in using the 24 hour clock) Raven clambered into the old VW of his dad's, and they set out towards the Grey's house.

After a few minutes of silence in the car, Raven spoke up. "How many kids are there?"

His dad apparently decided not to yell at Raven for running off again, and replied, "Two. An older girl named Sara and her younger brother, Tyler. Apparently Sara has invited a friend over, so try not to annoy them."

Raven permitted himself a small smile. _If this guy's anything like me, those girls will be completely miserable. _

__They pulled into the Grey's driveway, and walked up to the door. They had to ring the doorbell about three times, and an upstairs window flew open. "Who goes that?" Shouted a bond boy of Raven's age. 

Raven's father was about to answer, when Raven shouted out, "THERE!!! We go when!"

"Understood! Hut, hike!" The boy ducked back inside and slammed the window.

Raven's father looked at his son with raised eyebrows. "Did you understand a word of that?"

"No, but there's a good chance that he didn't understand anything of what I said, either."

The door opened before his dad could respond, and a tall blond man stood in front of them. "Hello, Andrew." He said, his voice rich and deep. "This is your son, Thomas, right?"

"Actually," Said Raven in the voice that he always used when he was going to say something completely senseless, "I'm his second cousins third nephew. And my name is Samoth, not Thomas."

Someone thundered down the stairs, and pushed the tall man to the side. "What goes where?"

Raven blinked, and said the only thing that made sense in the situation. "Do you know the powers of the House of Monkeys?"

The boy, who must have been Tyler, lifted an eyebrow. "No, but I do know the ways of the dog kennel."

"Ach!" Raven threw his hands in the air. "You're powers surpass my own by far!" 

"Tell you what." Tyler said, "You teach me the powers of the House of Monkeys, and I will show you the ways of the dog kennel." He held out a hand.

Raven made a show of thinking, before he gripped the other boy's hand. "Agreed." 

Raven's father looked at Tyler's, "Well, Richard, it appears that our sons have the same mentality."

Richard rolled his eyes. "The same mental problems."

"That's what I meant."

Tyler kicked his dad's foot, and dodged a swift blow to his head by bare millimeters. "C'mon, Tom, let's go!" He raced up the stairs, followed closely by Raven, who was slightly irritated by being called something besides Raven. 

When they reached the top of the stairs, Raven heard loud music from one of the rooms. He identified the band as 3-Doors-Down, and the song was _Smack. _He gestured towards the door "Sister's room?"

"Yup"

"Good tastes in music." 

"Sure."

"Short phrases good." 

"Yup."

They stood staring at one another for a brief moment before bursting into laughter. "C'mon, I'll show you my room." Tyler said, gesturing to the door across from the Loud Music Room.

Raven noticed then Tyler's shirt. "You like DBZ?" He asked, staring at the being on the back of the shirt that was outlined in fire: a Super Sayan. Since Raven didn't watch DBZ much, he hadn't the slightest idea of which one it was.

"Sure." Tyler replied. "It's cool. You like Anime?"

"I like anything with lots of action, I don't care about the acting or the plot line. I'll watch anything from Matrix to Gundam Wing. I've even been known to watch old Batman re-runs when they're the only thing on."

Tyler winced at the last sentence. "Now that's sad."

"Not sad, desperate. Deprived, maybe."

"How about deranged?"

"That's it."

When they entered the room, Raven shouted out, "Help me! I'm drowning!"Tyler laughed, and nodded. 

"It is like being underwater, isn't it?"

Raven stared at the other boy. "You don't like blue or anything, do you?"

"Hate it." Tyler sat down on his bed, which was painted blue, with dark blue bedclothes. "I like orange." He said, as he picked up an orange sock and threw it in the blue wicker laundry basket across from the bed. "I don't understand how my dad manages to get his socks in here."

Raven didn't answer; he was too busy staring at the room. If it wasn't for the posters on the walls, most of them depicting DBZ or Simpson's characters, the room would be completely monochrome blue. There were some hints at purples or greens, but the place gave off a strange aura of complete...blue-ness. 

Tyler looked at Raven, who was still examining his domain. "Your name is Thomas, right?"

"Yeah, but most people just call me Raven." The black-haired boy sat down on a swivel chair in front of a computer. (Both the chair and computer were deep blue) "Don't ask me why, I've just always been called that."

"Cool, well, most people call me Ty." 

They sat in companionable silence for a while. Raven's gaze drifted across the hall and towards Sara's door, which was now playing the end of _So I Need You_. Then, slowly he looked at four Nerf guns (all blue) on Ty's dresser. 

Ty followed Raven's gaze, and gave an evil grin. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" 

Raven mirrored Ty's grin. "I think I'm thinkin' what your thinkin'. What're you thinkin'?"

"I'm thinkin' we should stop saying the word 'Thinkin'' and use those guns to torture my sister and Jannie."

"Then you're th- uh, yeah!" 

They both grabbed two guns, and stationed themselves just outside Sara's door. Ty had the honor of knocking on the door. The music stopped, but no one came out. Raven looked at Ty, and mouthed, "_Open the door?"_

__"_I'll do it._" Came the reply. Ty eased the door open, and they both got the surprise of their life.

Sara and her friend were standing in front of them, both wearing black suits and sunglasses. They each held guns of their own. Then, in unison, they said, "Here come the Girls in Black." Then fired in rapid succession.

Raven fired his gun once, then heard Ty yell, "RETREAT!" They ducked back into Ty's room.

"'The Girls in Black?'" Raven said scornfully. "Couldn't they find something more original?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno. How about, Idiot Females from Planet Y?"

Ty laughed. "That fits. That fits well."

The door to Ty's room was still being hit over and over by the little foam balls that the two girls used to load their guns. Raven had pretty good aim, so he decided to pick a different weapon, one that would get the girl's attention and stop their attack. 

He picket up a suction-dart gun, threw open the door and fired.

The barrage of foam balls stopped abruptly. The girl with darker hair was staring at the small suction-dart that was stuck to her forehead. "Well." She said, "This is certainly... different."

Sara's eyebrows were raised as far as they could go. "Whoa. Good aim. Where'd ya learn that?"

The other girl pulled the dart from her forehead. "Really. I've never been hit with one of these things in my life. Or past lives, for that matter."

Raven shrugged. "I've just got good aim. I prefer a crossbow to a gun, though."

Sara was looking into her brother's room with distaste. "You really need to get some new posters in there, Tyler."

Her friend nodded. "What do those DBZ guys do to their hair, anyway? Put plaster of Paris in it?" 

"Yeah, and how do they do that instant bleach blond thing?" 

Ty had obviously heard this all before, and decided to just clam up and glare at his sister and her little friend. But Raven liked to talk, and therefore, spoke. "Actually, they use the same Anti-Gravity hair gel that Trowa Barton uses in Gundam Wing. And the bleach blond was a prank that Krillin pulled, so that whenever they turned Super-Sayan, a bucket of bleach would fall on their heads. Get it now?"

Ty was laughing his head off at the obvious confusion on the girls' faces. Then Sara's friend, (her name was Jannie) said "Then how do you explain the Androids?"

"What about 'em? They're the only cool characters, you know. The rest are all retarded."

"Hey!" Said Ty with mock indignation."There are other cool characters!"

"Name one."

"Well...Trunks is kind of cool."

Raven threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, sure! He has purple hair and is named after male swimwear!" 

"Ty dyed his hair blue once." Sara put in. "He looked...scary..."

Jannie squinted at Ty. "I can't see him with blue hair. Green, yes. Blue, no."

Ty put his hands over his head protectively."Yeah, I dyed my hair blue. I also dyed Sara's hair pink when she was asleep!!!"

"That was _you!?_" 

From downstairs came Richard's voice. "Kids! Dinner!"


	3. Dinner With Demons

Darkness in Daylight

Darkness in Daylight

Ch. 5

DINNER WITH DEMONS

Richard had put aside a separate table for the younger people. Raven noticed instantly that it was surrounded by linoleum and newspaper. _Hey, this Richard guy certainly plans ahead. _Raven thought. _He knows when a food fight is inevitable._

__And, apparently, so did Ty. He even went so far as to change from his DBZ shirt into a plain blue one. Raven looked down at himself. He was wearing one of his favorite shirts, the black one that said in bold letters: _One by one the penguins steal my sanity... _He glanced at his friend. "Uh, Ty? Could I borrow a shirt?" 

The other boy lifted an eyebrow. "Sure. Here, you can use this one. I never wear it." He tossed a gray shirt at Raven, and it landed squarely on his head.

"Thanks, bud..." Raven attempted to walk towards the bathroom, and found out that the door was closed. "Ouch."

He pulled the shirt off of his head, and, ignoring the snickers from Sara and Jannie, walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Once inside, he pulled off his _penguins _shirt and got a good look at the one Ty had given him. He gave a loud false gasp that was heard quite clearly through the door. He threw the door open and shouted at Ty, "You _never _wear this shirt? I've been looking for these everywhere!" 

Tyler just shrugged. "G-Wing just isn't my thing." he grinned, "Hey! That rhymes!!"

"Don't you turn into Dan now, ya hear?" Sarri scowled at her brother. "The planet only needs one of _those._"

"Who's Dan?" asked Raven, utterly confused. 

"Just a creep." Was Ty's answer. "Okay, you can keep the Gundam shirt. You can have this one. See? It has little teddy bears on it. I don't think anyone minds me trashing this one. Sara? Jannie?" He turned to the girls for their opinion. All he got was the "you are such an idiot" And "I can't believe I'm related to this dweeb" stares. 

Raven caught the teddy bear shirt and pulled it over his head. "Thanks. Now, what're we having?"

"Take your pick. Spaghetti and meatballs or hamburgers." Richard walked into the room wearing an apron. "Oh, Ty and Sarri, Wyrna's here. Don't throw anything in her direction. Okay?" When his children nodded, Richard continued: "Okay, who wants what?"

Sara and Jannie both opted for the hamburgers. Ty and Raven yelled at the same time. "BOTH!!!" which prompted Jannie to snort and say, "typical male."

Both Richard and Raven's father insisted on seeing them before dinner, so they could take before and after pictures. There was much whispering and laughter from the two girls at this. _Me and Ty had better watch out. Those two are planning something evil, and very evil. _

Apparently, Ty had the same thought, and the two boys lost no time in getting to the kitchen where Richard, Andrew, (Raven's Dad) and a graceful looking woman with long black hair sat. 

The woman stood and smiled, revealing very white, even teeth. "Hello." She said, her voice had a slight accent that Raven couldn't quite place. "My name is Wyrna. I'm Tyler and Sara's grandmother." 

Raven lifted an eyebrow. _No way. She can't be more than twenty-five! Richard looks older than she does!_

Ty nodded a greeting at the woman who _claimed _to be his grandmother, and grabbed a plate. "Food. Now." His father rolled his eyes, but chose not to comment. 

When Raven and Ty both got their dinners, they went into the little niche that had been set aside as the "kids table." Jannie, however, objected strongly to that term, so it was renamed "The Eating Area for People of Younger Years," or TEAPYY.

The adults took their places in the more formal dining room, (Jannie called it The Old Peoples' Table)and shut the door.

For about five seconds, there was silence. Each kid took a bite of his or her hamburger, nearly at the same time. Ten more beats of silence.

_"FOOD FIGHT!!!!!!"_

__Within seconds, Raven had half a plate of spaghetti in his face. He threw a carrot at his attacker, (who turned out to be Jannie) and wound up with a tomato slice hanging from his nose.

Ty wasn't faring much better against his sister. Sara had managed to get a whole bottle of ketchup and was squirting it all over her brother. She herself was splattered with tomato sauce, and her blond hair was made yellower with mustard. 

After about five minutes of this, Richard opened the door. 

Total silence. 

The older man took a good look at each oneof the kids. Jannie with mustard, ketchup, and carrot-bits all over her, Sara with her new hairstyle, Raven with his spaghetti facial, and his son Ty with his formerly blue shirt, now dyed red. He didn't even smile. The four kids blinked. He slowly reached behind him, and pulled something from his pocket.

*****_flash!* _

A camera.

Richard was then forced to exit the room quickly, under pain of being sprayed with mustard and ketchup. ****

Of course, a four-person food fight can't last very long. Everyone gets tired of it after a while, and this was really no exception. 

They got new plates of food and sat down again.

Sara was grinning evilly at her brother. "That's for dying my hair pink, twerp!" 

Ty bit his tongue, then stuck it out at her. "Take a running jump, sister." 

Sara laughed at him, and she and Jannie wolfed down their food as fast as they could. Then they excused themselves and ran towards Sara's room.

They had a lot to talk about.

**************************@@@@@@@@@@@@@************************

Jannie and Sarri had been friends since they had first met one another: Their freshman year at Ramsa High. At first, they had distrusted each other, because they could each sense that the other wasn't human. Gradually, they discovered that that particular high school was overrun by witches, Tristes, and..._things. _

Sarri and Jannie both fell into the 'things' category. 

To any normal being, such as a human, Jannie was completely average, except for her brilliant lilac colored eyes. Even to a vampire, she was indistinguishable. But, to a Deamon such as Sarri, it was obvious that she was something else.

However, this 'something else' wasn't clear to Sarri until she had asked Wyrna, who told her that Jannie was something called a Geoni, and that it was none of her business.

But now, there was Raven. 

"He's gonna be in Ty's class." Said Jannie in a hushed voice. "I hear that Silver's after him, that he's gonna send someone out to keep an eye on him."

Sarri nodded. "Definitely. Probably Jessica, she knows Ramsa well enough."

"Oh, come on. She hated Ramsa! Besides, she was a Senior when she was changed. Raven'll be a Sophomore."

"Yeah, but she's not stupid. She'll do what Silver tells her to do. He's stronger than her."

Jannie laughed. "Yeah, then she'd write one of her stories about him!"

The Deamon girl's eyes glittered. "You weren't there when they had the fight, were you?"

"Fight?" Jannie's ears perked up. "Jessica vs. Silver? They fought?"

Sarri nodded. "Yeah. That's how I know it'll be her, because the fight was over who would go to keep track of Raven. She had said: I'll be damned if I'll keep watch over a stupid human for you! And he said: You already are, so why don't you do it? It went downhill from there."

Jannie looked slightly disappointed. "You mean she didn't try to attack him?"

"Nah. Like I said. She's not stupid." Sarri leaned back and put her hands behind her head. "But you gotta wonder, why is this kid so important to Silver? Ty said it was because of his mother, but that makes no sense."

"Hey, don't look at me. You Deamons are closer to vampires than I am."

"Yeah, you're right."

The rest of the evening was spent by the two girls planning on how they could drug Ty into sleeping while they painted his fingernails a bright, lurid pink. However, something kept nagging Sarri in the back of her mind, something about Raven. 

A question that went unanswered until that night.

To be continued.

AN. Can you tell I love these minor cliffhangers? Read and Review!


	4. Sarri's Dream

Darkness in Daylight

Darkness in Daylight

Ch. 6

Sarri's Dream

_She walked through a long passage, carefully choosing her steps. The walls were an indistinct color, the deepest shade of black, the lightest tint of snow. _

_She had no idea why she was here._

_"Why am I here?"_

_She spun around. She hadn't said the words, so who did? The voice spoke again: "Why am I here?"_

_It seemed to be coming from ahead of her, so she continued on her way forwards. Every so often, the voice spoke, each time repeating its question. "Why am I here?"_

_Finally, she reached a room. The Room at the end of Infinity. There was a small boy sitting on a silver mat. "Why are you here?"_

_She would have stumbled backwards if she felt physically capable of such a thing. the variation of the question was unexpected, and seemed to have a direct impact on her subconscious mind. She spoke, and her voice was weirdly disembodied. "I am here because I am. I am because the One made me. The One made me because He/She/It believed my life would become something of value."_

_Now, where had those words come from? She vaguely remembered hearing them before. Ah, yes. The old stone-cutter, back in England. The blond man with the red shirt and orange eyes..._

_But the boy was speaking again. "Then why am I here?"_

_Again, she heard her own disembodied voice respond: "For the same reasons."_

_"How do you know?"_

_"I don't know. I do not truly understand the words I speak."_

_"Then why do you speak of what you do not truly understand?"_

_This particular phrase gave her pause. She thought for a brief moment before allowing her voice to say: "Because if I didn't speak of what I do not completely understand, I would never speak."_

_The boy nodded. "You have found truth. But you do not know it. Hear menow: I shall tell you something you must know."_

_The boy was fading into a swirl of indistinct colors, but his voice remained. It spoke, and spoke a small verse._

_"You see him,_

_A piece of the night._

_Deepest black, brightest rainbow._

_Darkness in Daylight._

_High in the sky,_

_The hawks and eagles fly._

_But none of them can match_

_The Darkness in Daylight."_

_ _

Sarri woke with a start. 

The dream woke her again, it always did. She was no stranger to prophecy dreams. In fact, that was the very talent that Ripfire had seen in her before changing her. They all started the same way: The hallway, the Room at the end of Infinity, and the boy on the silver rug who spoke to her. He never asked the same thing twice, and all questions and answers had an infinite number of meanings. If the boy liked her answers, he told her that she had found Truth, and then told her something about it. If her answers were unsatisfactory, he told her that all answers lay at the End of Infinity, but no man can get there. Her usual response was that she was not a man, but that just made the boy sigh and say, "You know so little. Why is it that you can See?" She would then have to answer that question.

Unless her alarm clock rang, like it was doing now.

Sarri hated alarm clocks. She hadn't owned or needed one (much less heard even of the concept) when she was alive in England five hundred years ago, and she didn't want or need one now that she was a Deamon in America.

_Deamon in America. _She thought, allowing a grin to slide across her face. _Sounds like the title of a bad movie. _

__She lay back and reflected on the meaning of the verse. "Darkness in daylight, eagles and hawks can't match. As usual, it makes no sense."

_Sleep on it. _Sarri thought, and then laughed at herself. _Yeah, best way to interpret a dream: go back to sleep and hope you still remember it. _

She drifted slowly back into unconsciousness, just as a few kilometers away, a man sat up straight in bed.

Silver hadn't had a dream in over a thousand years, and he didn't like it any more now than he did then. Irritably, he threw the sheets off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. 

_What the hell was that all about? _He thought. Whenever a vampire dreams, it always means something. Unfortunately, the dream was rapidly slipping away from him, and the harder he tried to grasp it, the faster it went.

It left him with only a few words:

"Fly high, Young Raven." He said aloud, remembering. "Be Darkness in Daylight."

Raven himself was totally oblivious to the fact that his name wasbeing repeated in dreams all over the Non-Human community. In fact, the only thing he was worrying about was the fact that his dad had to go to _California _of all places, and he was going to be left at his Aunt Tertia's house.

"But, Dad! If I have to stay there, that means I'll have to be nice to Cousin Car!"

Andrew sighed. "Raven, don't call Caryn that. You know she hates it."

"I know." Raven crossed his arms belligerently. "That's why I do it."

His father merely ignored him and put on a tie. Raven grumbled, and tried some more futile excuses. "But, Aunt Tertia is the creepiest old witch on the planet!"

"She's not a witch."

"Yeah, whatever. You're right, she's not the creepiest. That award goes straight to Aunt Dominique."

"I'm with you there, son." Raven's father grinned. "I'll only be gone for a month. Hardly any time at all. You won't even notice I'm gone."

"I can hardly not notice at aunt Tertia's house, with all her creepy novels, and that weird Ultra-Top-Secret, Totally-Confidential, Completely-Forbidden, Eternally-Locked room of hers." Raven shivered. "Wait, did I say room? I meant tomb."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Admittedly, Tertia Arun is a very creepy lady, but I doubt she keeps a crypt in her house."

But Raven wasn't listening. He'd already zoned into his own personal hyperspace. He caught the word "crypt" and responded: "I like the word 'crypt.' No vowels. I also like cheese. Trunks likes cheese. Vegeta hates cheese, but has a secret weakness for celery..."

"Is that supposed to make sense?"

"It makes sense to the dense!" 

"Do you make bread for the dead?"

Raven grinned at his dad. "I make bread for the dead, and rain for the insane. I fight for the light, and park cars at dark bars."

Andrew rolled his eyes. Again. "Get ready for church, son. And if you make another rhyme, I may have to kill you."

The boy gave a false yell of horror, and threw himself down on his knees. "Please, sir! Let me live! I am too young to die! Mercy! Mercy! I beg you mercy sir! Good sir knight, I..."

Raven would have continued, but his father had already left the house, and was starting the car.

"How rude." Mumbled Raven as he stood up. "Hm. I wonder what church Ty goes to?"

He went outside to see his father starting up the Jeep. "Hey, dad! Can I drive?"

"When you get your license." Andrew didn't even look up. They had had this conversation before.

"I've got my learners permit..."

"Yeah, from Japan."

Raven rolled his eyes. "From an American base!"

"We're not on an American base, Raven."

"No. We're in America." 

Andrew was getting impatient. "Just get in the car!"

"Sir!" 

As they drove, Raven noticed a black hawk circling over head...

Silver decided that he would follow Raven throughout the day. Probably the most boring thing he could do, following a human. However, Raven was very interesting. 

Especially when he saw the church that they were going to. 

The priest there was called Father Robert, and he wasn't human. Like so many of the Humanoids in Ramsa nowadays, he was Deamon. A rather young Deamon, only seven hundred years old. He was a great friend of Silvers, really. They had shared quite a few adventures together in the past few centuries, and his was the only Christian church that Silver had ever gone to voluntarily.

Normally, he would at least have gone inside to say hello to Robert, but when stalking one's prey, one shouldn't let his face be seen too often. There would be plenty of time later.

Plenty of time...

The church wasn't a big one. Raven looked up at the ceilings with half interest, half boredom. He scanned the crowd: No Ty, not Richard, no Sara, no Jannie. There was only one person there who would be of any interest to him.

His Aunt Tertia, Aunt Hasana, and Caryn.

He gave a moan of horror, and tugged on his dad's sleeve. "Dad, do I really have to go with them? They creep me out!"

Andrew smiled slightly. "Me too. Look on the bright side, at least Aunty Dominique isn't here." He shuddered. "She's the scariest of the lot of them."

"Hrrrm." Raven sighed. "Does this mean I have to be nice to Car?"

"My name is Caryn." 

Raven spun around to face his cousin, then spun back to face the alter. "What did I do to misplease you, my lord?" He asked to the crucifix in the front of the church. "Alas, I am surrounded by misery, and...Cars."

Caryn scowled. "the word is 'Displease,' I think. And my name is not car. It's Caryn."

"Your name should be spelled like so: K-A-R-E-N." Raven etched each letter in the air. "but, no. You're name is spelled C-A-R-Y-N. CAR-yin."

"Just shut up and go away." Caryn turned her back on Raven.

"Hey, I didn't exactly invite you over here!"

Caryn sighed in disgust. She and Raven had never gotten along well. The boy reminded her too much of the vampires she was supposed to be fighting.

_Not fighting. _She thought. _No. I am a Smoke, I heal the wounded, I protect those in danger. Arun and Vida are the hunters. _

She followed her mother and Tertia Arun into a pew. _But, I'm more like a Vida now than an Arun. I've taken the aura of a vampire into myself. I can shield myself from Hasana, but I think Tertia knows. _Caryn stole a glance at the Arun witch. _If she does know? Why doesn't she say anything? Maybe...Maybe she approves..._

__Caryn sat up a little straighter when she heard a voice in her mind. _I think she does. After all, Jessica was human when you healed her. She became a vampire later. you did y our job right, young Smoke. _

_Who are you? _She thought back. _Why do you contact me?_

__The voice receded from her mind. _I am No One. Just a little voice, telling you not to worry. As long as you keep those nasty knives away from me..._

__The voice was gone.

Caryn was jolted from her thoughts to the sound of the church's organ blasting out a solemn march. The acolytes began their walk down the isle, following the one with the cross, and Tertia began to sing with the choir.

The effect was not lost on Caryn. This was a religious ceremony, something witches should not be permitted to witness. If only these humans knew the truth: in those they fear lay their lives.


	5. The Den

Darkness in Daylight John O. Roberts Normal John O. Roberts 2 175 2001-10-12T21:51:00Z 2001-10-12T21:51:00Z 3 1196 6822 Home 56 13 8377 9.3821 0 0 

Darkness in Daylight

Ch. 7

THE DEN

            Robert sensed a familiar presence outside his church; a smile crept across his face. _Hello, you old imbecile! _He projected into the mind of the being.

            _Stop talking about yourself, fool. _Came the reply _you sicken me!_

It was the traditional greeting between Robert and Silver: insults. They were very good friends, but truly enjoyed insulting one another.

            _Why don't you come inside? It's not too far into the service..._

Silver's reply was a negative. _You know why I hate churches... _

_            You know my beliefs on that matter. _It was an old argument between the two: The damnation of vampires. Silver claimed that their souls were torn from them the moment their throats were pierced by the fangs of their Dark Parents, and the number of times that they had to kill would damn any soul to eternal hell.

            Robert's view was quite different. For one thing, no matter what happens to your soul, it doesn't belong to you anyway, so how can it be stolen? For another, he hadn't become a vampire voluntarily. In fact, Silver had fought it as hard as he could. Now that he was a vampire, he could hardly help it any more than a human could help being human. Suicide was a worse sin than being a vampire, in Robert's point of view.

              But that wouldn't get Silver inside a church. His final argument always was: "I have a reputation to keep." Robert's reply to that always was: "I'm sure Sil, I'm sure."

            After the service, Father Robert was expected to teach Sunday school for the High school children, always an interesting duty. However, this time, it might be a bit more interesting. He tested the air around him for nonhuman auras. _Yes, the witches again. _Young Caryn always had something to say about the concept of damnation, a subject that Robert only once in a while got tired of.

            _But who's that new boy with her? _Robert gazed at them as they walked down the hallway towards the Sunday school rooms. He checked the boy's aura...and got a faint surprise.

            _So, that's why you're here. _He sent to Silver. _Stalking a poor boy? Going to change that one? _

            _Yes. In time. _

_            Unless he kills you._

Silver laughed in Robert's mind. _Yes, unless he kills me._

_            I wouldn't underestimate this one. _Robert warned his old friend. _He looks quite powerful, for a human, that is._

His thoughts were cut short as is daughter poked him in the arm

            "Come on, Dad!" Feuer said impatiently. "You've got a class to teach!"

            Raven hadn't ever been in a Sunday school before. He'd gone to Saturday School once for fighting on school grounds... _("The other guy started it! I swear!") _But never to a religious class.

            They started off by sitting down in a room painted in various colors, with large golden letters across the walls proclaiming: What Would Jesus Do?

            Father Robert, who taught the class, entered the room a few minutes later. He smiled at the class. "Well, a few new faces! I remember your name; I think..."He pointed towards a girl with short cut red hair. "Hmmm, I'm not sure..."

            "Cut it out, Dad." The red haired girl made a face at her father. 

            So, Father Robert began asking everyone to tell him their names and something interesting about themselves so that he'd be able to remember them.

            When it came time for Raven to say his name, he'd zoned into hyperspace. Caryn elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "Say your name, stupid!" She hissed.

            He sat up straight with a jerk. "What? You wish to know my name? Well, I shall tell you now! I am he who speaks to underwater microorganisms! I am the one who can jump three centimeters into the air and still break an ankle! I am Vengeance! I am the Night! I am...." He paused for effect, and looked around at the incredibly confused faces of his peers. 

            "I'm Raven and I'm from Pennsylvania." 

            The whole room blinked collectively. 

            Raven sat back in his chair, satisfied that he had thoroughly begun his reputation as a completely 'out there' person. 

            Father Robert lifted an eyebrow. "Okay...well then."

            The class began talking about Family. Raven zoned out for a while until someone made a comment that snapped him out of it.

            "Yeah, well, you know. Blood is thicker than water."

            The boy lifted his head and said, "Yeah, it sure is. But, you know, so's toothpaste."

            A brief pause. Caryn snorted. 

            Raven zoned out.

            He didn't come out of hyperspace until the end of class, when he had to say goodbye to his dad.

            "Why do you have to go to California?" he whined. "This is stupid! I don't wanna stay with my aunts! Caryn told me that Dominique might be there!"

            His father sighed. "Raven, I'd really rather not be going to California, but my mother's gotten sick. I have to go."

            "I thought it was some sort of super-confidential intel thing."

            "Nah. I got myself out of that one." Andrew grinned. "But, it looks like I've got to go anyway. My boss was pleased..."

            "Whatever. I'm not." Raven crossed his arms and sulked. 

            His father caught him in a bear hug. "Don't worry, Rave. I won't be gone long. If Aunty Dominique scares you too much, give your friend Tyler a call."

            "Nah. I'd rather just run away into the forest again."

            Andrew smiled, waved, and got into the taxi that would take him to the airport. He called through the window; "I'll see you when I get back, Raven!!! Love you!"

            Raven was slightly startled. His dad hadn't actually said that since he was in second grade.

            _That means he knows I'm in for hell at Aunt Tertia's house. _He thought pessimistically. 

            Silver watched as Raven's father left. He then transported himself instantly to New Mayhem to go back to sleep.

            But, of course, something had to keep him from doing that.

            It was Shi, a Semi* from who-knows-where. Shi was a blind mystic/warrior, and often served as a bounty hunter, or a mercenary. She was standing in the middle of Silvers room, and staring straight at him.

            "I bring you a warning, Undead Master." It was Shi's custom to call all vampires' Undead Masters or Mistresses. "Those who we thought were dead are not."

            "What do you mean by that, Shi?" Silver's temper was short, and he was in no mood to deal with Shi's riddles, despite the fact that the fragile looking woman could kill him with a single movement.

            Her sightless eyes zeroed in on his exactly. "The Den is back."

            Silver took a step backwards in shock. This was worse news than expected. "The Den of the Real? The ones who tried to destroy all other beings besides humans and themselves?" When Shi gave an affirmative-sounding hum, he shook his head. "I could have sworn Seite and I killed them all..."

            "You did not. They are back, and they aren't going to wait for very long. They will attack soon."

            Silver growled. "No. Poor planning was always the Den's weak point before, they'll make sure that their plans are secure, and, considering the size needed to make even the smallest scratch in the population of supernatural beings, that will take a very long time."

            "You are correct, but my Demon contacts say that they might be enlisting the help of a being that the Demons simply call the Enemy." 

            Silver shook his head again; trying to relieve the dull pounding that had suddenly set into it. Shi seemed to understand this, and said softly, "You are in no shape to deal with any more of this kind of news right now, Undead Master. You must get some rest." She spun around, her silvery robe billowing out behind her. "I will wait for you in Nyeusigrube. We can discus our plans there. Bring along any being of power, except for Seite. Don't bring Seite."

            Before Silver could ask her why not, she was gone.

            He lay back and stared at the ceiling. _The Den. _He thought to himself. _If they're back, then we'll need to get organized, and soon. _

            With that thought, he fell asleep.

            As Shi left Silver's home in New Mayhem, she felt an odd sense of satisfaction. Things were going according to her plan. 

            She would get her revenge on the Den soon enough.

            *_Semi-human. Often referring to top class warriors and mystics who've achieved near-immortal/legendary status. If you watch _Outlaw Star_, Suzuka would be a good example of a Semi._

AN. Ok, I'm sure the end of that was plenty confusing. If you are lost, E-mail me and I'll explain it. If you really don't want to...fine, be that way! Everything will tie together later...


	6. Results of Boredom

Chapter 7

RESULTS OF BOREDOM

            Raven was bored. There was no other way to describe it. It was raining, Caryn was out with some friends of hers from college, and Tertia was expecting Dominique over for dinner. Raven briefly toyed with the idea of rigging the front door with a booby trap for his least favorite aunt, but, upon further inspection of the door, it would be difficult to make any substantial trap that Tertia wouldn't be able to notice instantly.

            _Bored. _He thought to himself. _Bored, bored, bored. I feel like a plank of wood I'm so bored. I feel like a hole I'm so bored. I feel like a piece of old cheese that has been left in the refrigerator for too long and has managed to evolve into a sentient life form and is currently running for presidential office._

He turned on the TV, but the only thing that was even vaguely interesting was Cartoon Network, at it was showing a three-hour Scooby Do marathon. All his halfway decent DVDs were at his dad's house, (including Escaflowne, which he was still hitting himself for forgetting) and he had read his _Akira_ manga's too many times. 

            There was only one option left. 

            Ty.

            He would have asked if Ty could come over first thing, but the idea of Dominique coming over was pressing down on him like a weight. Plus, he wasn't sure if Tertia would like it.

            _Well, it can't hurt to ask._

"Aunt Tertia?" he called, "Can I invite a friend over?"

            Tertia walked into the living room and scowled at her nephew until he took his leg off of the arm of the couch. "Who do you want to come over?"

            "Just a friend. His name's Grey: Tyler Grey. Lives about five or six or seven blocks from here."

            His aunt frowned but agreed when Raven promised that they'd stay out of her room.

            Joyful at having something to do to alleviate his boredom, he raced up to his room to call Ty.

            Meanwhile, the Deamon boy was running as fast as he possibly could towards New Mayhem. Every so often, he would glance behind him, his eyes would widen, and he would put on another burst of speed.

            Because there was a Sprite chasing him. 

            Her name was Panthera Tigris, and she was currently infuriated at Ty for something that he hadn't done. Although a Deamon was infinitely more powerful than a Sprite, relations were good between the species, and the Sprites were testy about their people being attacked. If Ty tried to fight Tigris away from him, the Sprites would be perfectly justified, in their way of thinking, in withdrawing their support from Wyrna's Clan. 

            And Wyrna, in turn, would beat the crap out of Ty. 

            He hurtled into Las Noches at speeds a Ferrari would be unable to attain, and, with his award winning grace, slammed into a table at which four vampires were sitting.

            "Uh...sorry?" He stammered as he lay on the floor among bits of broken wood and glass. "Erm, I really didn't mean to do that...ur... High ho, Silver!"

            Silver rolled his eyes at the Deamon. "One of these days, Ty, I am going to hurt you."

            Ty winced as he stood up, even though he didn't feel any pain. "Well, Sil, I've just done all the hurting I'm gonna do for now, okay?"

            "That's where you're wrong, Deamon!" Panthera Tigris stood in the doorway, her white and black striped hair making her look fiercer than she really was. "I think you're going to be hurting a lot when I get through with you!"

            If Ty had been just a bit younger than he was at that time, and just a very small bit less trained, he would have attacked the Sprite for that comment. "Look, Tigris. I didn't do it. You know damn well that I'm stronger than your whole species put together when I get pissed. Get out of my face, Sprite. Get off my back."

            The nightclub went silent. Even the heavy music blaring from the speakers overhead seemed to dim slightly. Everyone in Las Noches knew that tangling with a vampire means instant death, and tangling with a Deamon means something infinitely worse. 

            Especially this Deamon.

            Tigris paled slightly, but didn't back down. "Ty, I know you did it! Face up!"

            "Take. A. Running. Jump." Ty took a step forwards with every word. "Look at me, Sprite. I don't lie. I don't make idle promises _or _idle threats. I never touched your damn scrolls. I never went near your dwelling. Leave me alone, _semi-mortal, _or do I have to _persuade _you?"

            The Sprite's face paled further and her jaw dropped. "I...I'm sorry...I...ah..." She disappeared, not wanting to fight and knowing she'd lose if she did.

            Slowly, conversations returned to normal.

            "You handled that well." A vampire Ty had never seen before commented. He nodded towards the place Panthera Tigris was standing. "She didn't look strong enough to be worth the effort of destroying her."

            "It was more than that." Ty explained the alliance between the Deamons and the Sprites. "If I hurt her, I'd be deader than I am now."

            The vampire nodded again. "My name is Renn. I assume you already know the others?"

            "Sure." Ty nodded to the other three vampires. "Silver, Risika, (hi, baby!) and Siete."

            Risika glowered at Ty. "Call me baby one more time, Ty, and I'll..."

            Ty couldn't resist, it was too good to pass up. _"Hit me baby one more time!" _

            Siete laughed. "What brings you here, Ty?"

            "I was bored, so I felt like irritating some vampires."

            The new vampire, Renn, laughed. "And what would be the purpose of that? To get yourself killed?"

            "In case you didn't notice, I'm already dead." Ty's eyes narrowed. "I also get really pissed off when people assume I'm weak. Ask Silver; ask Siete." Both vampires shivered at the memories of getting their tails whipped by the young Deamon. "Better yet, ask Aubery!"

            It was now Risika's turn to laugh. "He lost to you?"

            "He lost to you, didn't he? And you know damn well I can kick your pretty ass."

            "Getting into language are we?" Silver stretched and his spine popped softly. "Ahh. Hey, Ty. Your cell phone's ringing."

            Normally, Ty would have said that he'd call the person back, so he could keep talking, but something in the way his old friend Silver was looking at him told Ty that it would be a good thing for him to scram.

            So he walked outside and answered the call.

            "Hi, Raven!"

            _"Hey, Ty! You wanna come over to spend the night?"_

"Sure, why not? I don't have any plans." Actually, he was supposed to help Sarri fix her broken window, but that could wait. "When do I come?"

            _"Any time, man! Try to get here before my dear auntie gets here. She's a real bee with an itch."_

Ty laughed. "Sure. I'll be there in fifteen minuets!"

            _"Uh, isn't a minuet some  kind of song or something?"_

"Yeah, I think so...not quite sure... anyway, I'll be there soon!"

            _"'bye!"_

"'Bye!" Ty clicked the phone off, and attached it to his belt. Then he transformed himself into a deep blue panther, and took off through the forest.

            He'd make it to Raven's in no time flat.

            _Hmm. _He thought as he ran on his way, _I wonder what those four were talking about. That Renn guy gave me the creeps! UFF! _He grunted as he stumbled against a rock. _Ouchy! Hmm. And what's up with Panthera Tigris getting all upset over some old scrolls? I didn't even know Sprites wrote anything worth putting down on scrolls! I'll ask Wyrna when she gets back from wherever she is..._

            Not that that was likely. Wyrna rarely left the caverns, but when she did, she often stayed away for months at a stretch. Once she was gone for over three decades. 

            A scratching sound made Ty pause. He tested the air around him for auras of other creatures. _Yep. _He thought at last. _Something's definitely up. The Werewolves are all out of place tonight, La's pack isn't even close to his territory. And what's up with all the Riverside-gnomes? _

Althoughthe Riverside-Gnomes were at first nothing more than a joke between Ty and another Deamon, Nacht, it had gradually became the name for an obscure group of  Shadow-Folk that seemed to live exclusively by water. 

            And there were thousands of them out tonight.

            _Odd, very odd. I'll have to ask La and Kats if they know what's going on, especially if Silver is unwilling to help me out._

            When Ty reached the place where Raven was staying, he gave an inward groan. _No, no, no, no, no, no. Not Aruns, PLEASE not the Aruns!!!! _But then, being Ty, he thought _Screw them. Rave's my friend, I don't give a rap who his aunts are._

He knocked on the door three times, and the upstairs window flew open. A boy with black hair and sun-bronzed skin poked his head out and yelled, "Where is my pet monkey?"

            Raven.

            Ty laughed, and put on an 'Ed' voice. "I am not a fish! I like gravy!"

            "Pace be with you!"

            The window slammed shut, and within mere seconds, the door flew open.

            Raven glowered threateningly at his friend, then gave an evil smile. His eyes flickered from Ty to someone behind him, and he said in a low voice: "Hello, Clarisse..." 

            Ty lifted an eyebrow and was about to make some kind of nonsensical remark when he heard from behind him a girls voice. "Raven, just shut up."

            Caryn.

            _Aw, she-ite. _Thought Ty even as he talked and laughed with Raven. _Aruns AND Smokes! And where there's Smoke..._ the Deamon tested the air and picked up the faint scent of brimstone that usually accompanied a small Shadow-Dragon _...There's Fire? What the hell?_

"I hope you don't mind," Raven was saying, "My Aunt Dominique is coming over, so you'll have to be polite." 

            Ty stopped dead in his tracks.

            "Dominique." He said, with a hint of incredulousness in his voice. "By any chance, would this be Dominique _Vida?_"

            "Yeah." Raven shrugged. "You know her?"

            "Our... paths have crossed."

            "That's not good. She's bad luck, you know. Like a black cat, but worse."

As the Deamon followed the Human upstairs, he wondered what the heck was going on around this place. 


	7. That which Submits, Rules

Chapter 8

That Which Submits, Rules.

            Silver leaned forwards to catch what Renn had said. "Stop whispering. I can't hear you."

            The vampire's head jerked up, and he tossed his head rather arrogantly. "I said, Silver, that the young man who just crashed into our table was probably the strongest thing that stands on two legs I have ever seen."

            Risika nodded and smiled a little. "That's our Ty. He's a total nut case."

            Renn was about one of the stranger things to show up in Las Noches over the past few weeks. His skin was of an odd hue, one that no one could quite place. He was probably from a desert country, which would explain his seemingly eternal tan. When anyone asked him where he originated from, he began speaking in a tongue that no one could understand. 

            The language changed every time he spoke, occasionally it was old Latin, and occasionally it was the language of the ancient Germanic tribes. Every so often, he spoke in Hebrew, or ancient Greek. Once he spoke in Gaelic, but a vampire who's origins were in that country answered him, and he stopped that quickly. Most often, however. He spoke his own language; the language of the Mesopotamians.

            It was likely that Renn was just as old as Siete, but neither was about to try to prove their ages. However, the self-proclaimed oldest vampire of all was simply called Blood, and he had a mate, Ave. Together, they were the strongest vampires to ever walk the earth.

            But Ave and Blood both lived somewhere near their birthplace near the Euphrates river. Renn, their child by birth and by blood, was an elegant and knowledgeable man who spoke nearly every tongue under the sun, and who always seemed to make sense, no matter what he was saying.

            Except for now.

            The things he was saying were completely impossible. Seite refused to believe any of it.

            "There is no way the Den could possibly be back!" he hissed, cutting into Risika's conversation with the ancient being. "We killed them all the last time!"

            "Not true." Renn's voice was sharp. "Shi told Silver about it, and Blood told me about it. Ave almost got killed by one of the Den. Don't be stubborn."

            This was news. Bad news. "Ave? Almost killed?" Siete sat back heavily. "That's... not possible."

            Silver grumbled something, and was doubly irritated when no one asked him what he said.  Louder, he said, "We shouldn't act too soon, that will be our failing."

            "But we can't wait too long." Risika's tiger-gold eyes flashed as a memory passed over her. "A lifetime is too long to live in fear."

            Renn's voice took on a tone of bitter irony. "That's what we thought at Masada, so everyone killed themselves."

            Silver and Siete both knew about the ancient Jewish War against the Romans; they had both lived through it. But Renn had actually fought in it, and the memories still troubled him. 

            Risika, however, was sorely confused. "What's Masada? And why did everyone kill themselves?"

            "Because it was the only way to win."

             A single thought passed through each Vampires mind at the moment, transmitted to them from an elusive but powerful source.

            _That Which Submits, Rules._

Ty had always detested being around witches, especially Macht witches. He found that their dwelling places always smelled like secret things, things that the witches never even knew about, but were there just the same. Tertia's home, for instance, was filled with the brimstony scent of Shadow Dragons; some of the rarest and most elusive Shadow-Creatures in existence. For one, it was annoying that the witches were living with such good things and never even knew it, for two, the brimstone irritated Ty's nose.

            Triste's were different; Ty himself had been a Triste in life, so he had a certain respect for them. Especially Alexander, brother of Risika, who was likely the bravest Triste Ty had ever met. He walked without fear among vampires and witches alike. The only thing Alexander feared was Demons, but Ty was afraid of Demons too, so there was nothing wrong with that.

            "I like cheese." Raven had stopped talking for a while when he noticed that his friend was deep in thought. When he noticed Ty coming out of it, he said the first thing that had come to mind.

            It worked.  Ty cut up into laughter. Then , he noticed an old carved mahogany door with a silver doorknob.

            Raven saw him looking at it and rolled his eyes. "That's Aunt Tertia's top-secret-ultra-confidential-totally-forbidden-off-limits-room. Nobody knows what's in there, not even Car-Yin." Raven squinted at his friend, who was looking rather odd. "Hey, Ty. You okay?"

            Ty snapped out of his trance as they entered Raven's temporary residence. "COMIC BOOKS!" He shouted as soon as the door opened. "Wow!" he practically dove into a chair and grabbed one of the many Manga's that littered the floor of Raven's room. "Ripfire hates these things!" Ty said, holding out the comic book. "He says that he can't stand the big-eyed morons running around in oversized metal armor blowing things up. He says real war isn't like that." The silver-eyed boy shook his head. "He says that real war is men in leather and iron armor fighting with bows, spears and axes."

            Raven shrugged. "I don't know much about war. I read these things because I like trying to draw them later. Hey, check this out..." He gestured to a vent in the wall. "Aunt Tertia doesn't know about this. From here you can hear EVERYTHING they say!"

            For some reason unknown to Raven, Ty stiffened. "What do you  hear usually?"

            "Mostly stuff about my cousin Sarah." Raven pointed to a picture on the wall, one of the few times they had actually taken a picture of his aunts and his cousins all together. Raven and Sarah had been good friends for a while, but then they had separated as she grew closer to her sister Adrianne and her mother, Dominique. "She disappeared a while ago, and no one's seen her since. It sounds like they're all in some kind of vampiric cult, know what I mean?"

            Ty gave him a look that, for the briefest of moments, showed his true form. "You have no idea, Rave. Your aunts are into some deep stuff. I'd stay out of it if I were you." The boy shook his head, breaking his eye contact with Raven. The moment was over, he was human again.

            "So! What kind of movies' d'ya got in this place?"

            Silver was lost as to what he should do. He amused himself by throwing newspapers into a fire and watching them burn. He then picked up a long-stemmed rose, a blood-red one, and threw it into the flames.

            Watching things burn was only a momentary pleasure. Silver sighed and brushed back his hair with his hands. _What is REALLY going on here? _He wondered. _Because of Jessica's books, the Den would know exactly where to come to obliterate my line. _Silver wasn't an arrogant man by nature, but he also knew the futility of modesty when the truth was obvious: his line was the strongest of all known vampiric lines. _And what of this new threat from Europe? Shi hasn't told me much about this one. _He sorted through the information he had. _Lycanthrope packs moving oddly in England, Mer-folk attacking human sailors in the Baltic Sea, LiveShadows grouping in France, the Banners organizing themselves once more, the Black Sorceress rising up again... as usual, Nothing makes sense. _

Silver picked up more papers and threw them into the flames. Nothing made sense. Nothing ever did.

AN: I am aware of the general crappiness of this chapter. I put it off for too long, and it sucks. I got Shattered Mirror in the middle of writing it, so that's why Sarah and Adianna suddenly make appearances. Gomen Asai! Don't shoot me! 


End file.
